SDWC Strong-Drive® Structural Wood Screw for Truss and Rafter Connections

I saw this new screw connection in Simpson's "arsenal" ... does it have a place in the Polygon/Quadrant world, and maybe more...?

SDWC Strong-Drive® Structural Wood Screw for Truss and Rafter Connections

Verco Deck - Changes have happened - TUNE IN online

So, imagine my surprise when i went online to www.vercodeck.com, and printed out some W2 and W3 concrete pandeck sheets from home... only to find those numbers in all those columns were ALL different from the numbers in my (2001) catalog...!

Having heard neither hide-no-hair about any changes to the Verco catalogs. I called up our rep Holly S. She mentioned that YES there are changes. These are NEW. They go as follows:

1. The grade has been changed to Fy=50ksi (vs Fy=30/38ksi). So while the materials have goten thinner (due to the rolling process with higher grade materials), the actual decks load and span charateristics have improved favorably. So, if you have a new job... check online for latest info!
2. The questions of 1-2-3 span conditions refers: Holly says that the limiting factors are the shear transfer between the decking metal and the concrete, and that the span conditions do not particularly apply. (?) She volunteered to send over some data from which the span tables were derived. I received that, and stuck it on the server at the followiung link - G:\LIBRARY\DETAILS\MFR\verco. But regardless, she confirms the basic thought that the 3-span condition refers to all spans over 2 spans - regardless of the end-span condition... (it was my contention that end span conditions needed to be treated as a 2-span condition since the moments are similar). The point is mostly moot, as there is NO difference between the 1-2 or 3 span conditions for the majority of cases (unless shoring is required)...

Retaining wall - Creative solution

So what do you do when you have a 20ft situation that needs to be retained... and the solution that comes up is a (huge) concrete cant'd wall with a big key...? Add to that a building surcharge of 4 stories or so, and you're into serious head-scratching mode... right...?

In my meeting with GRE a few weeks back, the contractor Bruce Moe and the geotech ganged up to come up with the following idea... It makes use of geotextile materials to reinforce the dirt, and take care of the surcharge loads from the building. All that, and my active goes down to 15psf... Looks like a good deal... Will let you know how the design turns out!